Unified messaging system and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a unified messaging system and method which is more convenient and advantageously combines or makes use of existing communication channels or networks. Part of the system and method relies on a data communication network forming an intermediate leg of the distribution network. Telephone communication is typically used for initial or final legs. Voice mail, E-mail, facsimiles and other message types can be received by the system for retrieval by the subscriber. Communications may be centralized and retrieval of messages can be accomplished using one of a number of separate and distinct approaches. Thus, data communication networks such as the Internet can become global voice mail and facsimile mail systems.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for unifiedmessaging services, and in particular relates to a system and methodwhich makes voice mail, facsimile mail and E-Mail convenientlyaccessible to receive as well as to transmit and to allow crossover inboth the type of document that is received or transmitted. The retrievalof messages can be accomplished in a number of distinctly differentmanners whereby the user has significantly more freedom and choiceregarding message retrieval.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

INTERNET™now provides a network where a subscriber typically contractswith a commercial access provider (CAP) and obtains an Internet addressas well as the capability to send and receive E-Mail on Internet andperform other functions which Internet supports. The subscribertypically uses his personal computer and modem to contact the commercialaccess provider using the public switched telephone network (PSTN), andonce connected to Internet, performs the desired functions. The CAPprovides an E-Mail box for the subscriber and the subscriber, whenconnected to the CAP, can review the contents of this electronicmailbox.

E-Mail can be transmitted to other subscribers of Internet located in ahost of different countries and provides a cost effective system fortransmitting data from one E-Mail subscriber to another across differentE-Mail systems nationally or internationally.

E-Mail systems have been available for many years and although theyprovide a very cost effective alternative to facsimile transmissions,the popularity of E-Mail does not nearly approach the popularity ofvoice and facsimile messaging and the number of users is many timeslower.

Our U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,837, 4,922,518, 4,942,599 and 4,969,184disclose systems for more efficient transmission and/or retrieval offacsimile communications, which can involve the use of dedicated datatransmission networks. Facsimile transmissions have been rerouted in thecase of long distance transmissions to a computer which uses a datacommunication to provide a more effective link to another computer whichthen uses the public switched telephone network to phone out andcomplete the transmission.

Companies have examined the approaches for conducting business and, inmany cases, it is now felt that certain individuals within the companyrequire their own private facsimile address as well as a convenientmechanism for receiving voice mail. Confidentiality may also beimportant. Office workers have also become much more familiar withcomputer equipment and have become more comfortable using the computerequipment to transmit or receive certain messages or conduct searches ondifferent electronic databases.

The present invention has recognized the need for a system oftransmission and central approach for combining these different messagetypes. The invention also allows the many millions of facsimile machinesthroughout the world to be more cost effectively accessible by otherfacsimile machines and computers and where the message type can be inaddition to a traditional facsimile message.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A messaging system according to the present invention having a bank ofdirect-in-dial (DID) telephone lines associated with a public switchedtelephone network and a computer system which also acts as a commercialaccess provider for the Internet or other data communication networksthrough which digital messages can be delivered. The computer systemprovides each subscriber with an E-mail address and account for the datacommunication network, as well as a fax telephone address and a voicemail telephone address, where a communication addressed to any of theaddresses results in the computer system receiving and storing theparticular message in an electronic messaging mailbox for retrieval bythe respective subscriber. The computer system is accessible to anysubscriber using the public switched telephone network and/or the datanetwork for retrieval of communications stored on behalf of thesubscriber or a summary of the communications whereby the subscribersmay contact a single automated source for retrieval of voice mail,E-mail, data files, or facsimile transmissions received on its behalf bythe computer system. Similarly, the system is accessible to anyonewishing to leave a voice, facsimile, or other message for the subscriberby dialing the telephone number associated with the subscriber'selectronic message mailbox. As a result, data networks, such asInternet, are accessible by devices other than computers, namely bytelephones and facsimile terminals.

In the preferred embodiment, the voice mail and facsimile mail telephoneaddresses are the same and the computer distinguishes between the twotypes of communications when the in-bound call is received. Use of anyof the addresses results in a connection with the commercial accessproviding computer which stores the addressed communication in anelectronic messaging mailbox for retrieval by the respective subscriber.The commercial access providing computer allows each subscriber toaccess and retrieve communications stored in his electronic messagingmailbox or a summary of communications stored in his electronic mailbox.The retrieval can be carried out using any of (1) a telephone set whichforms a telephone communication with a suitable commercial accessproviding computer, or (2) a computer and modem which forms a telephonecommunication with a suitable commercial access providing computer, or(3) a facsimile machine which forms a telephone communication with asuitable commercial access providing computer.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention, the commercialaccess providing computer with respect to some subscribers convertsreceived E-Mail and other communications addressed to the subscriber toa facsimile format such that the messages may be delivered to apredetermined facsimile address designated for receipt of messages sentto the subscriber. In this way, the subscriber can have an E-Mailaddress which others can use to provide them with information, but hehas predetermined that he, on occasion or always, wants to receive thisas a facsimile communication or other specified communication.

The communication system can also operate where the commercial accessproviding computer includes an arrangement for automatically deliveringan alert signal by means of a broadcast which is received by theequipment of the subscriber, and the reception thereof instructs thesubscriber's equipment to automatically receive the communications byinitiating a communication with the commercial access providing computerand then retrieving the communication. In this way, the communicationsystem can provide automatic delivery of communications, given that thesubscriber's equipment is available at that time.

This communication system can also work as a global voice mail and faxmail system where, if a particular line is busy or not answered, thecall is diverted to a suitable commercial access providing computerwhich will receive the diverted communication which is forwarded to thecommunication system. This method uses the call forwarding technology ofexisting public switched telephone networks, and thus, the communicationsystem provides the subscriber with the ability to receive allcommunications, including voice and fax messages.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention, the communicationsystem includes at least two commercial access providing computers, eachinterconnected to the Internet, and wherein the subscribers to thesystem can access either of the two commercial access providingcomputers for retrieval of communications stored on behalf of thesubscriber. Information is effectively exchanged between the twocommercial access providing computers when necessary to allow retrievalof the information by the subscriber by accessing either of thecomputers. This effective communication between the computers using theInternet, allows a fast, reliable and cost-effective transfer ofinformation. Such a system has the benefit of providing the subscriberwith access to the closest commercial access providing computer and canreduce long distance charges as well as improve the quality of thecommunication channel, as typically a local or shorter long distancecall is required to connect with the particular commercial accessproviding computer. Thus, Internet becomes the transport backbone of aglobal voice and fax mail system and opens Internet to transparentaccess by telephones, facsimile terminals and other non-subscriberdevices.

The present invention is also directed to a unified messaging systemcomprising a computer system which is connected to a public switchedtelephone network and a high speed data communication network throughwhich E-Mail, facsimiles and voice mail may be transferred.

The invention is also directed to a method of transmitting of voice,E-Mail and facsimile messages destined for a particular identifiedsubscriber, which messages are received by a computer system of acommercial access provider connected to a data communication networkthrough which E-Mail is transported. The computer system is alsoconnected to a public switched telephone network by means of whichfacsimile transmissions and voice transmissions are received andtransmitted, and wherein a subscriber may access the computer forretrieval of messages stored in his electronic message mailbox on hisbehalf. The retrieval of messages can use the public switched telephonenetwork and the data communication network directly connected to accessthe subscriber's electronic message mailbox or retrieval can use thepublic switched telephone network to form a direct connection with thecomputer system for retrieval of messages. This method provides thesubscriber with a number of alternatives for accessing his particularelectronic message mailbox including using the data communicationnetwork to access his mailbox when this is the most desirable or costeffective manner to retrieve the communications.

Internet provides access to millions of computers throughout the world.The present invention, preferably uses Internet and provides access tohundreds of millions of telephones and fax machines resulting in aGlobal Voice Mail and Fax Mail System in addition to the existingcapabilities of Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overview of the unified messaging service and how it caninteract with a data communication network;

FIG. 2 is an overview showing certain features of the system, and inparticular the type of structure used to unify the various communicationmessages of a subscriber and a common electronic mailbox and the variousmeans for retrieval of the information;

FIG. 3 shows an overview of how the system can be used to effectivelyconnect a subscriber to the data communication network and to hisindividual electronic mailbox for effective retrieval of messages;

FIG. 4 is an overview showing an effective manner for delivering afacsimile in a cost effective manner; and

FIG. 5 shows a schematic of how the system can be used to complete avoice communication channel to a telephone set in a distant geographicallocation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The term "UniPost" will be used to describe a new type of commercialaccess provider of the type associated with Internet. UNIPOST™ providesdial-in access to its subscribers through specialized access computerscalled UniPost Access Nodes (UANs) located in different geographicalregions (see FIG. 1). Each UniPost Access Node provides a subscriberwith an E-Mail address and account, preferably an Internet address, forexample:

    jsmith@acmefireworks.com.

This address provides access to the subscriber for other Internetsubscribers, and for subscribers to services that have gateways intoInternet. In addition, the subscriber is provided with a PersonalMailbox Telephone Number, for example: 1-416-555-1234, and Personal IDNumber (PIN): 63265. Therefore, a UniPost subscriber may be providedwith the following:

    ______________________________________                                        Internet Address:  gordon@toronto.unipost.com                                 Personal Mailbox Number:                                                                         1-416-555-1234                                             Personal ID Number or password:                                                                  63265                                                      ______________________________________                                    

The UniPost Access Node provides the subscriber with access to allnormal facilities of Internet, including E-Mail, databases, conferences,and forums. The UniPost Personal Mailbox Number provides the subscriberwith an access point which can receive messages from terminals otherthan computers, specifically from telephones and facsimile machines.Thus, his Personal Mailbox Number allows for receipt of voice andfacsimile messages. With this arrangement, the subscriber can becontacted by the millions of PC users in the world familiar with E-mail,as well as the hundreds of millions of telephone and facsimile devicesnow in use. Furthermore, the various received communications arereceived by a centralized system and can be retrieved by the subscriberhis or her convenience. The fact that the various UniPost Access Nodesare distributed throughout various countries and the world and connectedby the Internet or another commonly available data communication networkmakes retrieval of messages more effective. Furthermore, each UniPostAccess Node can include arrangements for converting of variouscommunications from one form to another making retrieval easier and moreflexible. For example, a subscriber may not wish to actually receiveE-Mail as E-Mail, but may wish to have an E-Mail address. When acommunication is address to him using the E-Mail address, the UniPostAccess Node may convert it to a facsimile transmission and send it outto the subscriber as a facsimile transmission. In this way, thesubscriber need not have the capability of receiving all transmissionsand can use certain features of the UniPost Access Nodes for conversionof communications received in one form to another form. The UniPostaccess mode can also provide conversion of facsimile transmissions toE-mail, or E-Mail to speech. In this way, subscribers need not havetheir own conversion hardware and/or software.

Turning to FIG. 1, the communication system 2 includes the Internet 4,which is a well known communication network. Internet has a number ofInternet commercial access providers (CAPs) 8 which each have a host ofsubscribers who then have access to the various services of Internettypically using their personal computers. The conventional Internetaccess provider would provide each subscriber with an Internet addressand password number for retrieval of E-Mail. One such subscriber 22 isshown using the local public switched telephone network 10 to gainaccess to the generic Internet CAP for transferring a file to E-Mailsubscriber "gordon@toronto.UniPost.com" indicated as 12. This is via theToronto UniPost Access Node 6, which includes the electronic Mailbox ofGordon. Gordon can either be alerted that an E-Mail communication hasbeen received or may call in to the UniPost Access Node 6 from time totime, as indicated by line 24, go through the necessary protocol withthe UniPost Access Node 6 or any UAN worldwide, and eventually receivethe E-Mail, or other voice, facsimile, or other messages indicated byline 26.

Messages to the UniPost Internet subscriber 12 can also be made from afacsimile machine 14, from a telephone set 16, from a computer modemconnection indicated as 18, or a message via Binary File transfer (BFT)indicated by the apparatus 20. Each of these devices communicate to theUniPost Access Node 6 through the local public switched telephonenetwork 10 and effectively gain access to the electronic mailbox ofgordon@toronto.unipost.com provided by the UniPost Access Node. Notethat both voice messages and facsimile messages are sent to the sametelephone address and Toronto UniPost Access Node 6 distinguishesbetween these two types of transmissions and stores the communication inthe appropriate electronic message mailbox, as will be fully describedwith respect to FIG. 2. Again, the communications can be accessed by theUniPost Internet subscriber 12 making contact with the Toronto UniPostAccess Node 6 or any other UAN worldwide and retrieving ofcommunications that have been received for the subscriber. It can alsobe appreciated that forced delivery can occur if the subscriber has apiece of equipment which can receive an alert signal and then form awith the UniPost Access Node. In this way, the UniPost Access Node doesnot have to continue to try to make contact with the subscriber and thesubscriber's equipment only calls into UniPost Access Node 6 when atransmission has been received and can now be retrieved. Our earlierpatents disclose automatic retrieval of facsimile transmissions whichcan be used in this application for message retrieval.

The Toronto UniPost Access Node can also deal with the variouscommunications received for a subscriber in different manners. Forexample, a subscriber may wish to have UniPost Access Node maintaincommunications for a certain period of time, even after they have beendelivered to the subscriber. In contrast, other subscribers may wish tohave all messages abandoned once they have been delivered. Therefore,the preferences of the individual subscriber can be accommodatedaccording to selections made at the time of retrieval or according to apredetermined arrangement.

Thus, to a caller calling a UniPost subscriber from a telephone, the UANwill behave like a voice mail system. For callers calling a UniPostsubscriber from a facsimile machine, the UAN will behave like areceiving facsimile machine. Likewise, the subscriber can use atelephone, facsimile machine or computer to retrieve his messages fromany UAN. A telephone will facilitate playback and management of voicemessage, indication of other message types and mailbox status, andpossibly text-to-speech conversion of E-Mail. A facsimile machine willfacilitate retrieval of facsimile messages, display of E-Mail, andnotification of other message types and mailbox status. A computer willfacilitate retrieval and management of all message types, includingvoice, facsimile, E-Mail, video and any other file type. UniPostsoftware resident in the computer will allow for the convenientretrieval, playback, viewing, filing and general management of allmessage types.

A UniPost Access Node 6, which has a host of direct in-dial telephonelines indicated as 11, can also have out-dial lines for contacting ofsubscribers or destined terminals. The UniPost Internet subscriber 12need not always be in the form of a portable computer and the subscribercan have his messages delivered to a permanent computer or a facsimilemachine, when appropriate. For example, a file transfer from 22 to afacsimile machine of the subscriber can occur where the Toronto UniPostAccess Node converts the communication to a facsimile communication andthen forwards the communication to the particular facsimile machine.This type of communication conversion occurs transparently to thesender.

Turning to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the Toronto UniPost Access Node 6includes a hard disk 50 which is subdivided to provide each subscriberwith a separate electronic message mailbox, generally shown as 30.Within the electronic mailbox is, typically, a facsimile in-box 32, avoice in-box 34, an E-Mail box 36 and a facsimile out-box 38. FIG. 2shows how the subscriber can retrieve various communications stored inhis electronic mailbox. The Toronto UniPost Access Node 6 will include asummary of the various messages that have been received for thesubscriber. This summary is available to the subscriber in voice form,facsimile form or E-Mail form depending on the type of terminal used forretrieval. The retrieval of messages in the electronic mailbox using acomputer and modem shown as 12 can follow the conventional practice,however, E-Mail, voice, facsimile, and other message types can beretrieved by the computer. The facsimile message can be processed usingan optical character recognition arrangement within the UniPost 6 toprovide a text file, or it can be merely sent as a graphic image.Therefore, the system does provide the computer terminal and modem 12with the means to retrieve additional communications other than merelyE-Mail messages. Furthermore, voice messages may be sent to the computerand replayed through speakers or the voice messages may be convertedinto text communications.

FIG. 2 also illustrates how the facsimile machine 25 or the telephoneset 27 can retrieve information. For example, if the subscriber is atthe facsimile machine 25 and wishes to retrieve messages, he can contactthe Toronto UniPost Access Node 6, key in his particular password, anddirect the UniPost Access Node to send the facsimile message to themachine preferably directly without forming a further communication. Onthe other hand, the subscriber could use the telephone set 27 to get asummary of messages received as well as any voice messages, and thendirect the Toronto UniPost Access Node 6 to send E-Mail or facsimilemessages to the facsimile machine 25. Any communications received forthe subscriber are placed in the appropriate box within the electronicmailbox 30. Therefore, it can be seen that the Toronto UniPost AccessNode 6 and other UniPost Access Nodes have the capability ofcommunicating with the subscriber in a number of different manners andallow him to receive information regarding messages received and for thetransfer of the messages to him in a number of forms. The subscriberneed not have a computer and modem connection to the UniPost Access Nodeto effectively have information or messages sent out in a particularmanner.

FIG. 2 shows UniPost Access Nodes 6 in Toronto New York and Tokyo.Access nodes can be distributed throughout a country. All major citiesmay have UniPost Access Nodes. Thus, each country typically will havemany UniPost Access Nodes.

FIG. 3 shows other advantages of the system which are particularlyappropriate with respect to subscribers who travel and often are quitedistant from their particular UniPost Access Node. In this case, the"gordon@toronto.unipost.com" UniPost Internet subscriber, generallyindicated as 12, is in Japan and uses the local public switchedtelephone network 10 to contact the Tokyo UniPost Access Node 6. Afterproper identification of the subscriber, the Tokyo UniPost Access Nodeuses Internet 4 to access the electronic mailbox 30 of the subscriberand allows retrieval of the various contents of the various boxes. Forexample, the personal computer 12 can receive voice messages, facsimilemessages, E-Mail and file transfer, or the Internet subscriber 12 coulduse the telephone set 29 to retrieve voice messages and possibly thevoice summary of messages received and have them played back to him.Furthermore, E-Mail or facsimile messages can be directed by thesubscriber to a facsimile machine, shown as 31. Therefore, both accessto the system and retrieval of information is not limited to a singletechnology, but can make use of a personal computer and modemconnection, a telephone set connection, or a facsimile machineconnection with one of the UniPost Access Nodes for both accessing amailbox and retrieving the contents thereof. It can also be appreciatedthat the example shown in FIG. 3 has allowed the subscriber 12 to form arelatively local connection using the public switched telephone network10 to contact the Tokyo UniPost Access Node 6. This is then connected tothe Toronto UniPost Access Node 6 and the electronic mailbox of thesubscriber via an Internet or dedicated data communication channel.Information is retrieved from the mailbox and provided to the UniPostAccess Node, also by this data communication channel provided byInternet. In contrast to a single UniPost Access Node, the multipleaccess nodes, shown in FIG. 3, advantageously use the dedicated datacommunication network to interconnect the access nodes and reduces theneed for long distance telephone communications with a particularcomputer. For example, if the UniPost Internet subscriber 12 in FIG. 3was merely a subscriber to the generic Internet access provider shown as8, he would have to use the local public switched telephone network aswell as a long distance telephone network to access the generic Internetaccess provider 8. This access provider would then deliver theinformation back to the subscriber. This results in a long distancetelephone communication which is not capable of transmitting the data atthe same rate or accuracy as the Internet system and results in a systemwhich is not as convenient or cost effective as the UniPost systemdescribed above. There can be a host of UniPost Access Nodes distributedthroughout a country.

FIG. 4 shows how a facsimile transmission addressed to a particularaddress in Japan can effectively use the UniPost access system. In thiscase, the transmission is sent from the facsimile machine 60 via thepublic switched telephone network 10 to the UniPost Access Node 6. Thefacsimile machine 60 can include add-on devices to cause this longdistance call to be rerouted or the communication may first be made tothe Toronto UniPost Access Node and thereafter to the Japanese address.Therefore, in this case, the user provides the direction to initiate thecontact with the Toronto UniPost Access Node 6. The Toronto UniPostAccess Node 6 recognizes that it is a transmission to be received inJapan, receives the transmission, and then uses the Internet datatransmission system 4 to transfer the facsimile to the Tokyo UniPostAccess Node 6. The Tokyo UniPost Access Node 6 then uses the publicswitched telephone network 10 to deliver the UniPost to the particularaddress identified in the original transmission. With this arrangement,the facsimile has been recognized as being a data transmission andredirected to make use of a data communication system and then receivethe communication in a geographical location much closer whereby thelocal public switched telephone network may be effectively used. Withthis arrangement, the facsimile transmission is carried over a datacommunication channel the greatest distance and in a cost effective andaccurate manner, and the public switched telephone network is then usedto deliver the message. Similarly, a local connection with the publicswitched telephone network is used to deliver the message to theoriginating UniPost Access Node. Fortunately, with local lines, the costis either free or inexpensive and typically the quality of theconnection is quite high. Therefore, there is a reasonable connection,and thus, a relatively fast transmission between the original facsimilemachine 60 and the Toronto UniPost Access Node 6. Similarly, there is afairly efficient transfer at the other end between Tokyo UniPost AccessNode 6 and the final facsimile machine indicated as 62. If theoriginating leg of the transmission is slow, it typically does notincrease the cost substantially, as it is a local call. Similarly, ifthe last leg of the transmission is slow, it is not particularlyexpensive, as it is again a local call. By redirecting the transmission,the high quality of the data transmission network is utilized, and thus,the cost for this portion of the transmission is also low.

This would be in contrast to the same transmission which is sent over apublic switched telephone network to the facsimile machine 62. In thatcase, because of the various steps and the fact that that system has notbeen designed specifically for data transmission, the transmission ratesare quite low and are really determined by the originating facsimilemachine, the receiving facsimile machine and the quality of thecommunication channel therebetween. Often, because of the verysubstantial distance involved, even if the originating facsimile machineand the receiving facsimile machine have high rates of data transfer,the communication channel can be the limiting link and result in veryslow transmission speeds and quite high costs. There can be asubstantial cost saving with the method described, and the eliminationof busy signals for the sender which uses the data communication networkfor the most important portion of the communication path.

FIG. 5 also shows how this UniPost system can be used for providing adirect telephone link using the data transmission network involvingInternet. In this case, voice is transmitted digitally and a livecommunication is maintained between Toronto UniPost Access Node 6 andTokyo UniPost Access Node 6. Each of these have formed a livecommunication with the originating telephone set and the receivingtelephone set. This can thus provide the subscriber with a further costadvantage in completing his international communications or other longdistance communications.

The discount long distance voice messaging requires that each UniPostAccess Node is able to accept and digitize voice calls. The actual datacommunication link utilizes protocols and routing logic which ensuresthat the digitized voice packets remain in sequence from sender torecipient. As with long distance facsimile calls, the call originatorwill dial the local UniPost Access Node and enter his account and thenumber of the recipient. The UniPost Access Node will establish a packetpath between the originating UniPost Access Node and the destinationUniPost Access Node closest to the recipient. The destination UniPostAccess Node will then place a local call to the recipient and deliverthe voice message.

The present system also allows UniPost to encrypt transmissions betweenUniPosts and avoid inadvertent disclosure to others. For example,encryption and decryption are carried out by UniPost using state of theart technology, and thus, the transmission over Internet or other datanetworks is protected. This security is provided transparently to thesender and the receiver and provides security generally corresponding totraditional non-encrypted facsimile transmissions. Additional securitycan include predetermined encryption of the communication on either ofthe first or last telephone legs of the communication. For example,communications between a subscriber and UniPost can be encrypted in apredetermined manner and, if desired, the last leg can be encrypted in apredetermined manner. A subscriber can specify or choose various levelsof security for different messages or retrieval of different messages.

As previously described, the system can also utilize other technologyfor forced delivery of any of the communications. This typicallyinvolves a signal being sent to the subscriber which is not necessarilya telephone based signal. For example, pager communications can be usedwhere the terminal recognizes that its address is included in thebroadcast signal and provides proper alert. This alert can be recognizedby the machine to complete a communication to the UniPost Access Node orit can merely alert the actual human subscriber. It is also possible forthe access node to use voice notification where the UniPost Access Nodeoutdials a prespecified telephone number and plays a voice messageindicating that a message has been received. Depending upon the numberspecified, a voice message may be played back to a normal telephone orinto a voice mail system.

The present invention also has particular application as a back-upsystem used in combination with call forwarding technology. In this way,businesses can have this as a back-up where if a particular number isbusy or not answered, the call is forwarded to the UniPost Access Node,which accepts the call and then eventually causes it to be transmittedout to the particular party or is available for retrieval. Multiplereception of various types of communication is provided without thesubscriber adding further communication.

There are other digital data networks other than Internet which can alsobe utilized and Internet is described herein as it is the most commonand perhaps has the widest subscribers of E-Mail. The invention is notlimited to the Internet. The drawings have also referred to variousUniPosts in different countries, but it can well be appreciated thatvarious UniPosts can be provided throughout a large geographical area,such as the United States. UniPost Access Nodes could be provided in LosAngeles, Washington, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, etc. In fact,UniPost Access Nodes may be desirable in all major cities. It is alsopossible to use a single facility and have a 1-800 or other toll-freenumber for a particular region, country or group of countries.

The following provides an example of the type of summary with which auser can be provided when he uses a computer to retrieve his messagesfrom a UniPost Access Node. As can be appreciated, the UniPost AccessNode can also provide a verbal summary of the various transmissionsreceived as it includes synthesized voice transmission.

By combining all messaging types in a single or centralized confidentialsource, the UniPost subscriber can utilize his PC as the receivingterminal for all his messages.

For example, a Toronto-based subscriber travelling to Japan with alaptop PC would click on the UniPost software in his PC, identifyingUniPost Japan, causing the modem to dial the Tokyo UniPost Access Node(UAN) and identify the subscriber (FIG. 3). The UAN would then displayon the PC a directory of mailbox contents, for example:

    __________________________________________________________________________    TYPE  DATE  TIME LENGTH SENDER ID   STATUS                                    __________________________________________________________________________    Voice 10 Sep 94                                                                           11:34:22                                                                           2.2 min                                                                              212-546-9112                                                                              Not Played                                Voice 11 Sep 94                                                                           08:13:41                                                                           3.5 min                                                                              638-9223    Not Played                                Voice 11 Sept 94                                                                          14:56:17                                                                           1.5 min                                                                              Unknown Caller                                                                            Played                                    Facsimile                                                                           09 Sep 94                                                                           10:04:31                                                                           5 Pages                                                                              Acme Fireworks                                                                            Rec OK                                    Facsimile                                                                           10 Sep 94                                                                           11:34:51                                                                           7 Pages                                                                              313-756-7781                                                                              Viewed                                    Facsimile                                                                           11 Sep 94                                                                           15:07:27                                                                           3 Pages                                                                              Benton-Cleary                                                                             Rec OK                                    Text File                                                                           08 Sep 94                                                                           09:23:12                                                                           4235 Bytes                                                                           kjohnson@terratek.com                                                                     Rec OK                                    Binary File                                                                         09 Sep 94                                                                           12:34:51                                                                           125912 Bytes                                                                         CIS:77605.171                                                                             Rec OK                                    Video 10 Sep 94                                                                           15:35:10                                                                           28 Seconds                                                                           tbailey@vidclips.com                                                                      Rec OK                                    __________________________________________________________________________

While viewing the current mailbox directory, the subscriber can selectany message for playback or display, as follows:

A voice message can be played back through the PC speaker or sent to atelephone.

A fax message can be displayed, annotated, rotated, edited, cleaned, orretransmitted.

A full motion video file can be viewed using a video playbackapplication.

Any other file type can be processed by the appropriate application inthe subscriber's PC, such as a text editor, word processor, spreadsheet,graphics viewer, or database.

The subscriber can select individual messages for downloading, deleting,forwarding, or broadcasting.

By delivering all message types into the PC, the subscriber is able tosave voice, fax, video, E-Mail, and other messages types under anysubdirectory within his PC. Therefore, the subdirectory associated with,for example, a particular client could contain voice messages,facsimiles, video clips, E-Mail, or any other file type associated withthat client.

Because of the distributed UANs, the travelling subscriber is not forcedto make a long distance call from a telephone back to his home voicemail system in order to retrieve his messages. A single local calldelivers all message types to his PC. A traveller using an office voicemail system, or a voice mail service offered by his local telephonecompany, will always have to call back to his home city in order toretrieve messages. This approach also applies within a country.

The present invention is not limited to the use of land based telephonelines and is used with cellular or other accepted telephone transmissionarrangements or other two-way communication arrangements.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilledin the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A communication systemcomprising a plurality of commercial access providing computers whereeach commercial access providing computer is associated with INTERNET toallow subscribers to use the services offered by INTERNET, saidcommunication system having many registered subscribers who arecollectively unrelated and each subscriber is associated with one ofsaid commercial access providing computers, providing each subscriberwith an E-mail address for INTERNET, a fax address telephone address anda voice mail telephone address, where a message addressed to any of theaddresses results in said associated commercial access providingcomputer receiving and storing the addressed message for retrieval bythe respective subscriber, said commercial access providing computersallowing each subscriber to access and retrieve messages stored on hisbehalf or a summary of messages stored on his behalf by using either atelephone set which forms a telephone communication with said associatedcommercial access providing computer or using a computer and modem whichforms a telephone communication with one of said commercial accessproviding computers, and wherein said plurality of commercial accessproviding computers use INTERNET to exchange information therebetween,and wherein subscribers of the system can access any of said commercialaccess providing computers for retrieval of messages stored on behalf ofa subscriber, said commercial access providing computers cooperatingsuch that messages stored for a subscriber in said associated computerare transferred using INTERNET from said associated access providingcomputer to one of the other commercial access providing computers whichhas been contacted by the subscriber for retrieval of communicationsstored on his behalf.
 2. A communication system as claimed in claim 1wherein retrieval of messages stored on behalf of a subscriber includesusing a facsimile machine which forms a communication with saidcommercial access providing computer and delivers the messages to thefacsimile machine.
 3. A communication system as claimed in claim 2wherein said commercial access providing computer broadcasts an alertsignal to advise receiving equipment of subscriber that a message hasbeen received by said commercial access providing computer on behalf ofsaid subscriber.
 4. A communication as claimed in claim 1 wherein someof said subscribers have received E-mail messages addressed to thesubscriber automatically converted by said commercial access providingcomputer to a facsimile format and forwarded as a facsimile transmissionto a facsimile address of the subscriber.
 5. A communication system asclaimed in claim 1 wherein use of said fax address and said voice mailaddress are telephone numbers which when used form a communication withsaid commercial access providing computer over one of many direct indial telephone lines.
 6. A communication system as claimed in claim 1wherein said commercial access providing computer provides eachsubscriber the capability to receive an audible summary of messagesreceived for the subscriber using a telephone communication between thesubscriber and said commercial access providing computer.
 7. Acommunication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said computers arelocated in different geographic areas where it is cost effective to useINTERNET to communicate between said commercial access providingcomputers when a subscriber contacts said other computer for retrievalof messages stored on his behalf.
 8. A communication system as claimedin claim 1 wherein each subscriber has the ability to contact saidcommercial access providing computers and have said computers useINTERNET for long distance voice transmission of telecommunications of asubscriber.
 9. A method of receiving voice, E-mail, and facsimilemessages addressed to a subscriber which messages are received by acomputer system connected to a data communication network through whichE-mail is received and transmitted and wherein the computer system has aplurality of commercial access providing computers interconnected bysaid high speed data communication network, each commercial accessproviding computer including many direct in dial telephone linesconnected to a public switched telephone network by means of whichfacsimile messages and voice messages are received and transmitted, andwherein any of the subscribers may retrieve messages stored on hisbehalf using said public switched telephone network and said datecommunication network directly associated with said computer system orusing said public switched telephone network to form a direct connectionwith any of said commercial access providing computers of said computersystem for retrieval of messages with said computers communicating themessages therebetween through said data communication network.
 10. Amethod as claimed in claim 9 wherein said computers each receivemessages from subscribers sent thereto for more cost effectivetransmission, said received messages being addressed to a particulartelephone address, and wherein said messages are routed using said datacommunication network to one of said computers located in closerproximity to the telephone address and wherein said one computerforwards the message to said telephone address using a public switchedtelephone network.
 11. A unified messaging system comprising a computersystem having a plurality of commercial access providing computersinterconnected by a high speed data communication network for digitaldata transmission, each commercial access providing computer including abank of direct in dial telephone lines associated with a public switchedtelephone network and acting as a commercial access provider for saidhigh speed data communication network through which E-mail is delivered,said computer system providing each subscriber with an E-mail addressfor data communication access, a fax telephone address and a voice mailtelephone address, where a message addressed to any of the addressesresults in the computer system receiving and storing the addressedmessage for retrieval by the respective subscriber, said computer systembeing accessible to any subscriber using said public switched telephonenetwork and/or said high speed data network for retrieval of messagesstored on behalf of said subscriber or a summary of said messageswhereby said subscribers may contact any of said commercial accessproviding computers for of voice mail. E-mail or facsimile messagesreceived on its behalf by said computer system which messages, ifnecessary, are exchanged between any of said commercial access providingcomputers over the data communication network.
 12. A communicationsystem as claimed in claim 11 wherein use of said fax telephone addressor said voice mail telephone address of some subscribers attempts tomake a communication with equipment of the particular subscriber and, ifunsuccessful, is automatically call forwarded to said commercialprovider for receiving and storing.
 13. A communication system asclaimed in claim 12 wherein said voice mail address and said fax mailaddress are the same address and said computer system distinguishesbetween a facsimile message and a voice message and provides appropriateprompts for receiving and storing the appropriate message.
 14. Acommunication system as claimed in claim 11 wherein said computer systemconverts at least some of said messages into an E-mail or a facsimilemessage and cooperates with equipment used by subscribers for automaticdelivery of received and stored messages.
 15. A communication system asclaimed in claim 11 wherein said computer system has at least somesubscribers where E-mail and facsimile messages are automaticallyconverted to either E-mail or facsimile format and then forwarded to thesubscriber.
 16. A communication system as claimed in claim 11 whereinsaid computer system provides a summary of messages received on behalfof a subscriber which summary can be retrieved as a voice message.
 17. Acommunication system as claimed in claim 11 wherein said computer systemprovides a summary of messages received on behalf of a subscriber whichsummary can be retrieved as voice mail, E-mail or a facsimile message.18. A communication system as claimed in claim 17 wherein said computersystem includes a conversion arrangement whereby a received facsimiletransmission can be stored and retrieved as a text file, or a receivedtext file can be retrieved as a facsimile message.